The Michigan House passed House Bill 5219 over to the Senate Tuesday afternoon on a 60-46 vote, following weeks of contentious debate over the original gag order provisions in PA 269/SB 571 and calls by the League and other local government organizations for a repeal of the offending language.
The changes made to the bill on Tuesday do nothing to address the contention by MML and others that there remains no justification for the gag order provisions originally adopted in December. The attempts in this bill to bolt on new language to the already flawed and vague provisions from PA 269 do little to provide clarity and confidence to communities around the state as they seek to communicate with their residents about critical local ballot questions.
The bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration. Please continue to contact your legislators, especially your Senator(s) and urge them to repeal the new language added to Section 57 by PA 269.
Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304
and [email protected].